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Notre Dame hasn’t won a major bowl in over a quarter of a century. It can snap that skid against Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. All eyes will be on Marcus Freeman in his first game as head coach of this legendary program. A …
Notre Dame hasn’t won a major bowl in over a quarter of a century. It can snap that skid against Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. All eyes will be on Marcus Freeman in his first game as head coach of this legendary program. A victory would go a long way in giving the Irish confidence for the 2022 season.
Let’s look at what some college football experts, including those on the Wire sites, are predicting for this game:
Who wins the biggest games this bowl season?
The bowl season is in full force but the biggest games are still waiting to be played. In just a few days, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State will face off against each other in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl.
The New Year’s Six game’s along with the College Football Playoff semi-finals are right around the corner. That will get many experts guessing how the games will play out. That’s what 247Sports did, as Chris Hummer and Brad Crawford made their selections for those games.
Obviously they included the Irish taking on the Cowboys, a game that is very important for Marcus Freeman more than Mike Gundy. Both of them picked Notre Dame to win, but in a closely contested game. Hummer and Crawford have the margin of victory under a touchdown, meaning we could be seeing a game that goes down to the wire.
Our staff predictions have bet to revealed, they will soon, so keep an eye out for them as we give our predictions to how the biggest games of the bowl season will play out.
Where will the Irish land in the first CFP rankings of 2021?
Tonight is the first edition of the College Football Playoff rankings and many teams will be gauging where they stand after they find out where they are ranked. The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and AP Poll are important but in this era of college football, the CFP rankings are king.
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Many have projected where they expect teams to land later this evening and 247Sports Chris Hummer took his shot at what the rankings should look like. With Georgia, Michigan State, Alabama and Cincinnati all in the projected coveted Top-4 spots, many project that the Irish will be inside the Top-10 when they are announced.
.@chris_hummer dropped his @CFBPlayoff Rankings projection 👀
What will the committee do with MSU, Cincy, and Wake Forest tonight? pic.twitter.com/HsUMMyChUw
— 247Sports (@247Sports) November 2, 2021
These rankings don’t really matter in the long run and are fun to look at, but it’s obviously the final set that means the most. Notre Dame is in solid footing but they’ll have to climb over other 1-loss teams and the Bearcats, who beat them earlier. It might be a little early to say this but it’s very possible that Notre Dame ends up on the outside looking after the regular season concludes.
Which team are you picking?
Going into the season, Saturday’s game between Notre Dame and North Carolina was hyped up one to watch. Instead, there is less attention on this game now the Irish aren’t a lock for the College Football Playoff and the Tar Heels have not performed up to preseason expectations. Still, that doesn’t mean we won’t have a good one in South Bend. Things could turn unpredictable despite one being ranked and the other not.
Let’s look at what some college football experts, including those on the Wire sites, are predicting for this game:
What do you think happens as this rivalry is renewed?
One of college football’s biggest rivalries will return Saturday after a one-year absence. On one side, you have Notre Dame trying to stay relevant as some experts believe it still has an outside shot at the College Football Playoff (yeah right). On the other, you have USC simply trying to get through the season after dismissing its coach. Neither side knows what’s next, so picking up a win is crucial.
Here’s what some college football experts, including those on the Wire sites, are predicting for this game:
Which quarterback should ultimately get the most reps?
The countdown had already begun, with less than two weeks to go until the Irish kick off the season in Tallahassee against Florida State, there are bound to be plenty of interesting predictions. Chris Hummer of 247Sports is included in that group as today he made some bold predictions regarding this coming season.
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There are some interesting takes, like Oklahoma winning the College Football Playoff title but his 5th point, true freshman QB’s are coming … eventually that should have the eyes of Irish nation. Hummer claims that this season “is a big of a rebuilding year” and Jack Coan is clearly not the future.
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Agreed on his Coan point but rebuilding this year just doesn’t seem right, but that isn’t Hummer’s main idea. It’s that Tyler Buchner is the future and I can’t agree more on this.
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Hummer thinks that “if things start slow for Notre Dame, I wouldn’t be shocked if Buchner started to earn some reps.” I think that Buchner gets rep even if things go great early on. Brian Kelly can’t afford to enter the 2022 season with an inexperienced quarterback, especially opening against Ohio State in Columbus.
After a solid spring game showing, Buchner has the ability to lead this offense now and into the future. It will be very interesting how Kelly handles this situation, while playing to win now and preparing for the future.
Hopefully both of them stick around for a while
College football annually has plenty of turnover on coaching staffs, we saw it this past season with Clark Lea leaving to lead Vanderbilt and subsequently Brian Kelly finding his new defensive coordinator in Marcus Freeman. Finding a replacement can be great, but what teams also have to do is not only win on the field and develop their players, but develop their own coaches.
Most major programs see other teams poach their up-and-coming coaches so finding younger assistants who are on the rise in the profession is paramount. That’s exactly what Kelly has been able to do, as today, both offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and safeties coach Chris O’Leary have been named to 247Sports 30Under30, college football’s rising star coaches.
The inclusion of Rees should not surprise anyone, he has made their list for 3 consecutive years. In his first full season calling the offensive plays, Rees led the Irish offense that “ranked 30th nationally in point per game and 34th in yards per play as it reached the College Football Playoff.” Pretty impressive if you ask me.
As for O’Leary, after starting his career as a graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2015, he’s climbed the ranks from when Kelly hired him as a defensive analyst to graduate assistant and now the defensive back/safeties coach. Chris Hummer cited last year’s Butkus Award winner, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramaoh, as a feather in O’Leary’s cap even though he “can’t claim credit for JOK’s ascendance, but those around the program have been high on O’Leary and his ability to develop.”
As stated above, coaches like these two typically get poached by other programs giving them more responsibilities and higher pay. Hopefully that won’t be the case so soon for Rees and O’Leary.
Who makes your super team?
Let’s cut to the chase right away, the answer is no. Not one of the current Notre Dame position groups made 247Sports’ Super Team, but it’s still important for Irish fans. Why you ask, well it’s because one group, the defensive backs of the Cincinnati Bearcats was selected.
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You’re probably still asking why does this matter to Notre Dame. It’s because of who built the secondary, Marcus Freeman. The first-year defensive coordinator for the Irish took a group of underrated prospects and made them into who Chris Hummer noted “held opposing passers to the third-lowest passer rating in college football a season ago.”
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Some of the credit goes out to the players, but some also must go out to coaching, scheme and preparation. That’s where the Freeman impact should be accounted for, he’s the one that coached up the unit last year for the Bearcats. Freeman is the one that will lead the group this year for the Irish, one that finished over 30 spots below where the Bearcats did last year.
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The expectations for Freeman are high and rightfully so. Remember, he spurned teams like LSU to move a state to the west and join the Notre Dame coaching staff. If you weren’t excited for what Freeman brings to the table in replacing Clark Lea, this is just another reason why you should be extremely giddy about this hire.
